VHB

Hello

Connections, uses and more
Updated March 2025

Hello there. I’m Venkatram Harish Belvadi. I have a passion for writing and a curiosity for exploring the interconnections between science, technology and society. I work academically on the history of science with a keen interest in the mathematisation of the world.

The idea for this “hello” page comes from Alastair Johnston who calls them “a kind of ‘rules of engagement’” that clarify how I prefer that my readers reach out and/or keep in touch with me and why. With this I have merged the IndieWeb ‘uses’ page for anyone who might find it interesting.

I’m always looking for new people to connect with, learn from and collaborate with, so get in touch without hesitation.

Best wishes,
V.H. Belvadi

Connect

I am not averse to social media but I do have a few preferences:

  • I prefer e-mail to everything else, so my inbox is always open for discussions—get in touch
  • For social media I used to enjoy Twitter the most but no longer find it conscionable to support that platform; instead I am now on Mastodon and BlueSky
  • I post occasionally but am not active on Instagram and I do not particularly care for LinkedIn either

This website

Here are some ways you can interact with my work:

  • I write a fortnightly newsletter that thousands of people enjoy about the interconnections between science, technology, history and society—which is also my area of academic interest. It is free so you can subscribe or browse the archives anytime
  • I write essays on this website fairly regularly
  • I record my shorter thoughts and share interesting things I stumbled upon or respond to others on the IndieWeb in the form of notes
  • I make photographs and maintain my portfolio on this website
  • I love to read and I review a few books I read every year, while others get a couple of notes about them then get listed on my reading list

Uses

People on the IndieWeb enjoy listing things they use in everyday life, both as recommendations and as a curiosity, so this is my list. I previously noted down my ‘default apps’ back in 2024 when this list did not exist and I no longer use some of the items I had previously written about. However the list below is updated regularly to reflect my current usage.

Hardware

  • MacBook Pro 14in M2 Computer
  • iPad Pro 11in (4th gen) Tablet
  • iPhone 15 Pro Phone
  • Sony A7 IV/Fujifilm X100V Photography
  • Xbox Series X Gaming
  • Kindle Signature eBook reader

Standard third-party toolkit

  • NetNewsWire RSS
  • BBEdit Notes
  • The Unarchiver (De)compression
  • IINA Media viewer
  • Acorn 8 Image manipulation
  • Retrobatch Pro 2 Batch image processing

All other software

  • Apple Mail Mail client
  • Apple Notes/Emacs Notes
  • Apple Reminders/Things To-Do
  • Affinity Photo 2 Photo management
  • Affinity Designer 2 Design
  • Lightroom Photo management
  • Photoshop Design
  • Apple calendar Calendar
  • iCloud/Google Drive Cloud Storage
  • iCloud Contacts
  • Safari Browser
  • iMessage/WhatsApp Chat
  • Safari Bookmarks
  • Safari reading list/Instapaper Reading list
  • Pages (Word under duress) Word processing
  • Keynote Presentations
  • Apple Reminders Shopping list
  • Actual Budget Personal finance
  • The Economist/NYT/Guardian News
  • Nike Training Club/Nike Run Club Workouts
  • Apple Music Music
  • Apple Podcasts Podcasts
  • 1Password Password management
  • Raycast Launcher
  • Zotero Reference manager
  • VS Code IDE
  • Sleep Cycle Sleep tracking

Miscellaneous

  • Leuchtturm1917 Pocket notebook
  • Cloudflare Edge servers
  • Uni-ball Jetstream Pen